I know that being fat is seen as a choice and a sign of apathy, gluttony, stupidity, lack of discipline, and many other negative traits, but the facts don’t lie.

• If you look purely at the biochemical pathways, overeating is as addictive as many controlled substances.

• it’s estimated that 95% of diets fail

• it’s estimated that only around 20% of people that lose an appreciable amount of weight can keep it off longer than 3 years.

With those sorts of numbers, you’d be better off being a cocaine or heroin addict. At least with those drugs, you’re only seen as disgusting once you hit rock bottom.

And don’t even get me started on the socioeconomic factors like overprocessing, cheapening, and ultimate weakening of our food supply for the benefit of corporate profits…

But yeah, as someone that knows what it’s like to struggle with weight, I can’t imagine the crippling shame and anger he must have harbored within himself that he could have maybe played at the highest level of something, but he couldn’t beat his demons.